DUNNELLON - Newcomer Fred Ward won Dunnellon's mayoral race and along with it captured Seat 1 on the City Council, tromping former City Councilman Jim Patterson by a vote of 329 to 131 in Tuesday's election.
By a much smaller margin, incumbent Louise Kenny narrowly squeezed out her opponent, newcomer Lisa F. Sheffield, to retain Seat 1 on the Dunnellon City Council by a vote of 260 to 201.
Dunnellon voters overwhelmingly supported Amendment 1 limiting City Council members' terms to no more than three consecutive terms without being out of office for at least one year. The final vote was 385 voters approving the measure, and 63 rejecting it.
Amendment 2 failed with 253 voters casting ballots against the initiative and 193 voting for the amendment that called for all council members to be elected at-large and allowing the City Council to select the mayor and vice mayor from among their ranks by a majority vote.
By the time the polls closed at 7 p.m., the candidates all were looking tired from the last push to attract votes. Some left City Hall before the votes were tallied. Others, like Fred Ward and Lisa F. Sheffield, both newcomers, hung on until the end.
"I just want to thank all my help and all the people who helped me," Ward said after the votes were tallied. "It has been a long six weeks, and I walked every neighborhood in the city and knocked on every door. It obviously paid off. I hope to keep the city going in the direction it's going."
Patterson was a gracious loser.
"Congratulations to him," Patterson said about his opponent after being reached by phone for a comment. "He had a well-oiled machine. They did a good job. I am proud of them. I wish them the best of luck in the world."
And Louise Kenny was a gracious winner.
"I am gratified by the election results, and I will do my best to serve the people of Dunnellon," Kenny said in a telephone conversation. "But I also congratulate Lisa Sheffield because she ran a very good campaign."
Sheffield said she will not disappear from public view and is working with the Greater Dunnellon Chamber of Commerce on its Destination Dunnellon 2015 initiative.
"I am delighted at the turnout," Sheffield said inside City Hall Tuesday night. "I am ecstatic about that. I really want to see more of us getting involved in what's going on in this little town. I feel this is a mandate to say that we need to get even more involved."
According to City Clerk Dawn Bowne, there are 1,341 registered voters in Dunnellon and 464 cast ballots.
"That calculates to 34.6 percent," Bowne said. "That's pretty good."
Of the total ballots cast, 104 were absentee ballots. During the opening of the absentee ballots, one of the ballots was sliced. Wesley Wilcox, assistant supervisor of elections in Marion County, held up the sliced ballot and said another would be filled in with the voter's selection and that ballot would be placed in the ballot machine to be counted along with the others. That action was taken before election workers at City Hall and that vote was counted in the final tally.
Another election created excitement on Tuesday and that was the race for mayor of the city of McIntosh.
Cary McCollum received 81 votes beating his two opponents, Joseph Allen Shea, who received 64 votes, and Karen Wishart, who received 17 votes.
Of the 162 votes cast, about 15 were absentee ballots.
"I am grateful to the people who voted for me, and I will try to be a decent mayor," McCollum, a longtime McIntosh resident, said by phone Tuesday night. "I will do the best I can with what little sense I have got."Susan Latham Carr may be reached at 352-867-4156 or susan.carr@starbanner.com.

DUNNELLON - Newcomer Fred Ward won Dunnellon's mayoral race and along with it captured Seat 1 on the City Council, tromping former City Councilman Jim Patterson by a vote of 329 to 131 in Tuesday's election.<BR>
By a much smaller margin, incumbent Louise Kenny narrowly squeezed out her opponent, newcomer Lisa F. Sheffield, to retain Seat 1 on the Dunnellon City Council by a vote of 260 to 201.<BR>
Dunnellon voters overwhelmingly supported Amendment 1 limiting City Council members' terms to no more than three consecutive terms without being out of office for at least one year. The final vote was 385 voters approving the measure, and 63 rejecting it.<BR>
Amendment 2 failed with 253 voters casting ballots against the initiative and 193 voting for the amendment that called for all council members to be elected at-large and allowing the City Council to select the mayor and vice mayor from among their ranks by a majority vote.<BR>
By the time the polls closed at 7 p.m., the candidates all were looking tired from the last push to attract votes. Some left City Hall before the votes were tallied. Others, like Fred Ward and Lisa F. Sheffield, both newcomers, hung on until the end.<BR>
"I just want to thank all my help and all the people who helped me," Ward said after the votes were tallied. "It has been a long six weeks, and I walked every neighborhood in the city and knocked on every door. It obviously paid off. I hope to keep the city going in the direction it's going."<BR>
Patterson was a gracious loser.
"Congratulations to him," Patterson said about his opponent after being reached by phone for a comment. "He had a well-oiled machine. They did a good job. I am proud of them. I wish them the best of luck in the world."<BR>
And Louise Kenny was a gracious winner.
"I am gratified by the election results, and I will do my best to serve the people of Dunnellon," Kenny said in a telephone conversation. "But I also congratulate Lisa Sheffield because she ran a very good campaign."<BR>
Sheffield said she will not disappear from public view and is working with the Greater Dunnellon Chamber of Commerce on its Destination Dunnellon 2015 initiative.<BR>
"I am delighted at the turnout," Sheffield said inside City Hall Tuesday night. "I am ecstatic about that. I really want to see more of us getting involved in what's going on in this little town. I feel this is a mandate to say that we need to get even more involved."<BR>
According to City Clerk Dawn Bowne, there are 1,341 registered voters in Dunnellon and 464 cast ballots.<BR>
"That calculates to 34.6 percent," Bowne said. "That's pretty good."<BR>
Of the total ballots cast, 104 were absentee ballots. During the opening of the absentee ballots, one of the ballots was sliced. Wesley Wilcox, assistant supervisor of elections in Marion County, held up the sliced ballot and said another would be filled in with the voter's selection and that ballot would be placed in the ballot machine to be counted along with the others. That action was taken before election workers at City Hall and that vote was counted in the final tally.<BR>
Another election created excitement on Tuesday and that was the race for mayor of the city of McIntosh.<BR>
Cary McCollum received 81 votes beating his two opponents, Joseph Allen Shea, who received 64 votes, and Karen Wishart, who received 17 votes.<BR>
Of the 162 votes cast, about 15 were absentee ballots.<BR>
"I am grateful to the people who voted for me, and I will try to be a decent mayor," McCollum, a longtime McIntosh resident, said by phone Tuesday night. "I will do the best I can with what little sense I have got."<BR>
<i>Susan Latham Carr may be reached at 352-867-4156 or susan.carr@starbanner.com.</i><BR>